This Day in History, 1878

THE first long distance telephone messages along the Murray River were made on May 4, 1878.

At Corowa, Henry Aubin attached a locally-made telephone to the telegraph wires and sent a message across the river to Wahgunyah, through Chiltern and Wodonga to arrive in Albury in the blink of an eye.

The first interstate call had been made three months earlier, between Mr McGuaran, the manager of the Albury telegraph office, and Mr Cheyne at Wodonga.